Traffic is increasing in Montlake. We experience gridlock and cut-through traffic routinely. The SR 520 project is adding pressure on the neighborhood at a rate unplanned for by SDOT and WSDOT. Various projects need to happen in order to mitigate the effect.

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has funded some of these efforts through Vision Zero Project. Additionally, Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has given SDOT $250,000 for traffic calming work outlined in the Neighborhood Traffic Management Plan.

A few of the changes will be done before the next Phase of SR 520 begins in late 2018/early 2019. The Montlake Community Club has requested additional projects, however, at this time SDOT is unable to fund them.

This is a report of projects completed, underway or under discussion. We will also address the 23rd Avenue East Vision Zero project and the SR520 project in future articles.

Regarding public transportation, the 23rd Avenue Corridor is one of seven planned RapidRide lines in the City. The RapidRide Expansion Program is a partnership between the City of Seattle and Metro Transit to deliver convenient, high-quality public transportation options. It was originally scheduled for opening in 2024, but currently, no funding exists for this project. It is hard to understand the lack of funding when the #25 was discontinued and service of the #43 has been drastically reduced. Even with Light Rail, our community is underserved with transit options.

It is critical that all Montlake residents influence these projects. Please continue to put pressure on SDOT and ask them to fund all of the requested projects (email SDOT). When emailing SDOT please put “Montlake Traffic Calming Measures” in the subject line. You are encouraged to use the City of Seattle “Find IT, FIX IT” app (www.seattle.gov/customer-service-bureau/find-it-fix-it-mobile-app) to post any request you think should be addressed. That includes the items listed above. WSDOT, SDOT and the City of Seattle need to hear from each of us if we expect anything to be done.

If you want to learn more or get involved, reach out to the MCC, join the transportation committee, or attend one of our monthly meetings. Meetings take place at the Boyer Children’s clinic on the second Tuesday of each month (September-June) at 7:00 pm. We have made great progress, but it requires continued community involvement.

Thank you to everyone who has advocated for our marvelous, historic and lovely neighborhood.

If you are a Block Watch Captain you are probably already planning your event. If your street/immediate neighborhood doesn’t have a Block Watch Captain – please volunteer to take on this role. Then invite your neighbors to join you for a night out on Tuesday, August 1.

National Night Out is a great time to socialize with your long time neighbors and meet your new neighbors. If you want to apply for financial support for your neighborhood picnic, please email your request to Carol Cordy at carolcordymd@gmail.com and the Montlake Community Club can reimburse you up to $75.00.

Knowing your neighbors makes your neighborhood safer. The first National Night Out in 1984 involved 2.5 million neighbors in 400 communities. Last year NNO involved 38 million in 1600 communities. If you want to learn more about the history of NNO go to https://natw.org/

Tomorrow, April 20th is the deadline to submit your response to WSDOT’s application for a Noise Variance during construction (click to review application). A few highlights requested in the application:

The right to do construction at higher noise levels 24 hours a day, for the next 7 years, the full scope of the 520 construction.

City of Seattle’s current limit on nighttime noise is 45 db, WSDOT is requesting 80 db. With decibel scales, this over 15X the current limit.

Many neighbors, including the Montlake Community Club Board, are concerned about this noise variance. As such, the Montlake Community Club has submitted a letter opposing this variance. You may view the Community Club’s response to this variance request HERE or click to view other responses by Laurelhurst, North Capitol Hill, and Senator Jaime Pedersen.

The Montlake Community Club encourages all concerned neighbors to take advantage of the public comment period which ends tomorrow, Thursday, April 20th by sending an email with your comments concerning construction noise and hours of operations here:

There is another important process & deadline upon us this week with regards to the Montlake Phase of SR 520 Construction. WSDOT has applied for a Noise Variance during construction (click to review application) and they will be holding the only public meeting this Thursday, April 6th. You may read the bulletin here: http://web6.seattle.gov/DPD/ LUIB/Notice.aspx?BID=1222&NID= 24653

Many neighbors are concerned about this and are opposing any noise variance allowing for construction prior to 8 AM and later than 7 PM Monday through Friday.

Please take advantage of the public comment period which ends Thursday, April 6th Thursday, April 20th by sending an email with your comments concerning construction noise and hours of operations here:

Traffic Calming is being explored for Montlake, and not just for our main street—24th Ave East. It’s equally important for safety and livability on all the streets of our neighborhood.

Developed in Europe in the 70’s, traffic calming is a system of street design strategies aimed to balance movement of traffic with other human interests, like walking, playing, shopping, working—you know, life. Over the years, a number of calming measures have been added to our neighborhood side streets. When you take a walk around Montlake, you can find traffic circles, speed bumps and cushions, pedestrian-controlled crossing lights, marked crosswalks, roadway striping and painting, curb bulbs and good old signage. In other Seattle neighborhoods you can also see chicanes, raised crosswalks, textured “rumble strips,” diverters, and chokers. Some have calmed traffic; some, not so much.

Now to Montlake comes even more traffic on 24th Ave E. and seemingly endless Hwy. 520 construction. We’re feeling spill-over headaches as impatient drivers look for shortcuts and faster routes along our residential streets. It sure seems like we need more of the traffic calming methods in additional locations. Jim Curtin, SDOT’s Senior Traffic Planner & leader of Seattle’s Vision Zero road safety initiative knows the whole traffic calming toolbox—and he’s not afraid to use those tools if doing so makes life safer and more pleasant on our streets—all our streets.

At the November MCC Board Meeting, Curtin explained that SDOT is still evaluating “a slew of options” for the 23rd /24th Traffic Corridor Improvement Project Phase 3. He stressed that entire “neighborhood traffic calming is a priority, no matter what design is ultimately selected” for 24th Ave E. The other day, he reiterated this whole-neighborhood concern after reviewing reader responses to the November 23, 2016 Flyer article. All along, Jim has also said that for the best solutions to be found, SDOT planners need to learn from the community about specific problems in particular locations. Your observations and experiences can then be crafted into accounts to share with SDOT decision makers. Bottom line: The better SDOT’s understanding of particulars, the more likely their fixes will work for us.

So, Montlakers, let’s do our part. We can start by naming specific neighborhood locations and the particular traffic problems observed and experienced there. Write these in the comment section following this article or send them to the Montlake Community Club Board (Board@montlake.net). Montlake Community meetings on Phase 3 will also be coming up in early 2017. Attend those meetings to be informed and to offer your specifics and particulars there. Let’s give SDOT the information they need to provide us with workable traffic calming solutions to our Montlake street safety and livability issues.

Want to know more about Traffic Calming? Here are some online resources:

On Friday, October 14th at 9:30am, the Seattle City Council is meeting to consider the ordinance that would permit camping on 167 miles of sidewalks and nearly 5,200 acres of Seattle parks and greenbelts. King5 and Seattle Times have shared maps prepared by the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) and Seattle Parks and Recreation that present the parks and sidewalks that could be used by homeless campers if the ordinance is approved.

Many parks in Seattle would be approved locations, such as Greenlake, Discovery and Lincoln Park. Approved locations in and around Montlake include:

Your personal story about why the Montlake Boulevard Market is important

The addition of a staging area at one of the city’s busiest intersections undergoing a massive rebuild doesn’t make sense; it would simply make traffic jams worse and make commuting harder

Montlake has a low walk score and this takes away a critical resource that is loved in this neighborhood

A visually attractive & safe intersection, even during the construction phase, is needed as this is a key gateway to the city

WSDOT announced its decision without any advanced warning

The city needs to manage planning for the entire area and validate WSDOT decisions; there is a need to coordinate work done by several transport agencies and the UW. The city has perspective and can see the 520 work in its larger context. We encourage a stronger role for the city over the next 12 years of construction and during the creation of the Design-Build contract.

Several Montlake residents attended the Seattle Design Commission (SDC) meeting on Thursday, July 7th to listen and comment on WSDOT’s plans for construction of the SR 520 Rest of the West Project. Those attending were Jon Decker, Kathy Laughman, John O’Neil, Lionel Job and Barbara Wright.

The meeting agenda called for WSDOT to discuss its Request for Proposals (RFP) process and the role that the Commission will have in that process.

The commissioners asked for clarification on several points made by WSDOT. Among them were:

How does WSDOT plan to have transparency in the design process and finality of design decisions if it plans to utilize a design-build method in this phase of the construction?

What process does WSDOT have for mitigating environmental and quality of live concerns the residents in the surrounding area will have during the duration of construction, especially since the construction will take 11 – 12 years to complete?

Barbara Wright and Lionel Job, chosen earlier to speak for the group, expressed their concerns about WSDOT not being open and not honestly taking the community needs into consideration. Lionel mentioned the example of discovering on the day of the June 28th WSDOT Open House that there was a plan to demolish the Montlake Blvd Market and the 76 Station to make way for a construction staging area.

The intersection of SR 520, Montlake Blvd. and Montlake Place is the second busiest intersection in the city. Barbara & Lionel asked the Seattle Design Commission to consider this fact and how this constant traffic and the planned construction will impact the surrounding communities. They hoped the Commission would urge the City to take an active and transparent role in working with WSDOT to protect the integrity of the environment and surrounding neighborhoods. Both the Council and the Mayor’s Office need to be actively involved in the project (design, implementation, and construction) to ensure we build a transportation project, they said.

John O’Neil, Montlake Community Club board trustee for transportation, also spoke in regard to the safety and environmental concerns that the long construction period will have on the students at Seattle Prep High School.

The Seattle Design Commission will be presenting recommendations to the City Council at its 9:30 a.m. briefing meeting on July 18th. The public may attend this meeting but is not traditionally permitted to make comments. Therefore the group which attended the recent SDC meeting has sent a list of written concerns that will be used to brief the Council in advance of this meeting. The City Council will then be up to update on the concerns that the surrounding neighborhoods want to address regarding the SR 520 Rest of the West Project’s impact on their communities.

A follow-up article will be posted to the Montlake Flyer with the details after the July 18th meeting.

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